San Francisco strikes Vancouver bullpen again

Catching up on the first-round series between Vancouver and San Francisco...

The 6th-seeded Iron First finally broke through against a left-handed starter in Game 4, pounding chasing Scott Kazmir after 3 innings but a wild Felix Hernandez was unable to keep the Experience down. The 3rd-seeded San Francisco scored 5 runs in the 7th and the bullpen cleaned up Kazmir's mess, allowing 1 run over the last 6 innings, including a hitless final 5 frames.


Vancouver opened the scoring with 3 runs in the bottom of the 1st. San Francisco countered with a run in the 2nd but the Iron Fist punched back with a two-run blast by Eduardo Escobar to open a 5-1 lead after 2 innings.

San Francisco kept swinging though, taking advantage of Hernandez's wildness. A 2nd inning walk had come home to score and in the 3nd, Felix walked two more -- and almost got away with it if not for the meddling Yunel Escobar and his two-out single down the right field line to cut the margin to 5-3. Hernandez would walk two more in the 4th but escape any damage. He lasted just 4 2/3 innings, yielded 3 earned runs on 6 hits, the 5 walks and 5 strikeouts.

Kazmir lasted only 3 innings, allowing 6 earned runs on 7 hits. Francisco Rodriguez came on after a double by Stephen Vogt to open the 4th. He got two out before Anthony Rendon slugged a two-run blast, giving the Iron First its largest lead, at 7-3.

The Experience scratched out a run off reliever Casey Fien in the 6th, a Brandon Belt double after a passed ball scoring Alex Gordon, to make it 7-4.

Fien started the 7th but didn't last, after a single by Ender Inciarte and a double by Seth Smith, he walked Escobar to load the bases. Brandon Maurer came in to throw some gasoline on the fire. He coaxed a sacrifice fly out of Jonathan Lucroy to score one run, making it 7-5, but then Carlos Gomez doubled to score Smith getting within 1 run, 7-6. Andrelton Simmons had the go-ahead hit, a two-run single and Gordon added an RBI double for good measure.

San Francisco closer Kenley Jansen started the 8th, getting two quick outs before walking Vogt. That's when the Experience brought in a lefty, normally a starter Patrick Corbin, to strike out Escobar and nip any rally in the bud. It wasn't all clear sailing for Corbin. He led off the 9th by walking David Murphy, who advanced to 2nd on a fielder's choice before pinch hitter Prince Fielder grounded out. Martinez, the postseason's current RBI leader with 6, was walked intentionally -- putting the tying run on base -- before Corbin struck out David Peralta to end the game, earning the save.

It was Fien and Brandon Maurer who had perhaps the ugliest lines for the Vancouver bullpen. Maurer was charged with the blown save and the loss, but really it was a dual effort. In his one inning, Maurer gave up 2 runs and 3 hits. Fien went 1 1/3 before him but surrendered 4 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits.

Darren O'Day got the win for San Francisco with a scoreless 6th, followed by Keone Kela with a scoreless 7th.

San Francisco seemed to have the Vancouver bullpen's number in the 3-1 series win. The Experience went ahead for good in all three victories in the 7th or 8th innings (Games 1 and 2, and Game 4). The Iron First were just 14-24 versus left-handers in the regular season. They couldn't take advantage of Chris Sale's 6 walks in Game 2 and left 11 men on base in Games 1 and 4.

San Francisco also just seemed to have Vancouver's number in general, going 9-1 against the Iron First during the regular season. That record improved to 12-2 after the first-round series. The lone bright spot for Vancouver was a 4-0 shutout by rookie Andrew Heaney to avoid a 3-game sweep.

Third-seeded San Francisco will now face 2nd-seeded and defending champion Arkansas. The Best-of-7 semifinal series between the past two league champions is scheduled to get under way on Saturday.